Ewing, J. (2016, April 21). Volkswagen Reaches Deal in U.S. Over Emissions Scandal. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/business/international/volkswagen-emissions-settlement.html?_r=0

Case Assignment
Develop a report in terms of the following guidelines. A well-written report should have a brief introduction, headings or subheadings, and a brief concluding comment. Note that you should use some keywords as headings or subheadings such as “Brand Equity of VWâ€ , instead of a sentence or a question. Read and cite required articles on Volkswagenâ€™s emissions scandal, as well as additional research you have done, and address the following issues:

Briefly describe Volkswagenâ€™s emissions scandal and provide background on the company and automobile industry.
Do you think Volkswagenâ€™s brand reputation was severely damaged by the emissions scandal? How about its brand equity? Discuss what brand equity is, and how Volkswagenâ€™s brand equity will be impacted.
How should Volkswagen handle the emissions scandal in an ethical way? Discuss the related ethical issues from both consumer and brand manager perspectives.
What can you learn from this case? What suggestions could you offer to Volkswagenâ€™s top management?

Write clearly, simply, and logically. Your paper should be 750â€“1,500 words long, excluding title pages and references, but quality of writing is more important than length. Use double-spaced, black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size.

Back up your positions or opinions with references to the required readings for this Case and those in the Module Background. In using those references, demonstrate your understanding of the concepts presented. Rather than grading on how much information you find, emphasis will be on the defense of the positions you take on the issues. Also remember that:

The â€œwhyâ€ is more important than the â€œwhat.â€
The defense of your positions on the issues is more important than the positions you take.
Do not repeat or quote definitions. Your use of the required reading to support your opinions (that is, contentions or positions) should demonstrate that you understand the concepts presented. Do not include definitions or summaries of the readings or simply describe what the company did. Instead, your responses to the questions should be analytical and should demonstrate that (a) you understand the principles from the background reading and (b) you can apply them to this particular case. Vague, general answers will not earn a good grade.

Avoid redundancy and general statements such as â€œAll organizations exist to make a profit.â€ Make every sentence count.

Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas, employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely exceed five words.

When writing an academically oriented paper, you will uncover many facts about the company and the scandal. If you paraphrase the facts, cite the sources in your text and link those citations to references at the end of the paper.

Here are some guidelines on how to conduct information search and build critical thinking skills.

Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Searching for Information. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/searching.htm

Aisner, J. E. (1999) More than a name: The role of brands in people’s lives. Working Knowledge for Business Leaders Series. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School. Retrieved from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/2598.html

Zax, D. (2010). For Millennials, brands may be as important as religion, ethnicity. Co-Create(November 17). Retrieved from http://www.fastcocreate.com/1679028/for-millennials-brands-may-be-as-important-as-religion-ethnicity